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I’ve reached that critical period in middle age where I don’t sign up for new social media platforms because I don’t “get” them. My limited understanding is tha
by BuyMyBitcoins 5y ago
I’ve reached that critical period in middle age where I don’t sign up for new social media platforms because I don’t “get” them. My limited understanding is that TikTok is for short videos and there’s a lot of dancing, for some reason. Is it the platform itself that’s addictive, or the content is just that good?
- rsj_hn 5y agoIt's more about providing shots of dopamine without requiring the ability to pay attention for longer than 30 seconds, combined with a decent ranking algorithm. If you are not used to consuming entertainment in bite-sized pieces then you wont enjoy it, regardless of how old you are. It's just that the proportion of people who expect entertainment to consist of half minute segments is much higher among the young than the old, and if you do fall into that group, you will really struggle being able to handle even a 15 minute youtube video, let alone a 40 minute broadcast show or a 3 hour play. In that case, you don't have many good video consumption options besides TikTok, so you will spend a lot of time there, even though I don't think it's addictive. What I really wonder about is the future of sports -- what will they do to make, say, baseball appealing to people with those types of attention spans. I wouldn't be surprised if there are some big upheavals in the sports world over the next two decades.
- 2939223 5y agoSports are the last worry in a society where 30 seconds attention spans are endemic.
- honzzz 5y agoI was also surprised that you are worried about sports - that is one of the last things I would worry about. I worry that our reward systems are being hijacked. We are more and more trained to seek short dopamine bursts. The problem is that this is short term satisfaction that creates chronic boredom in the long run. Just notice how you feel after two hours of watching "funny" videos or whatever is your poison. Don't you feel like it's not funny anymore but you keep watching anyway just to escape the creeping sense of emptiness? Lately, I keep thinking about what Erich Fromm said about people becoming robots, although he meant it in a different context: "But given man's nature, robots cannot live and remain sane, they become 'Golems', they will destroy their world and themselves because they cannot stand any longer the boredom of a meaningless life."
- ALittleLight 5y agoTikTok quickly adapts to show you videos that you're interested in. There's all sorts of content on TikTok. There's a lot of dancing videos in the same way that there are a lot of dancing videos on YouTube. TikTok seems like a next generation YouTube though. What it adds, in addition to an easy and addictive way to watch, is a remix culture empowered by the ease of creating new videos. Dancing is a fine example. When someone creates a new dance other TikTokers try it out or put their own twist on it. I think highly of TikTok. It's creative. The algorithm powering the feed is compelling. I personally uninstalled it because I'd get caught up using it and spend more time than I wanted on the app - but it's doing a lot right.
- Yhippa 5y ago> TikTok quickly adapts to show you videos that you're interested in. I've read this and they must have some really brilliant people working there because they are able to confidently stream you whatever is next that keeps you hooked. There's no home page for you to pick and choose. You're just getting one dopamine hit to the brain right after the other. > TikTok seems like a next generation YouTube though. YouTube seems to incentivize longer content which seems to be the wrong thing to do. I can watch a short TikTok video and feel that I actually learned something without the time commitment.
- denimnerd42 5y agothe dancing might be how zoomers used it but nowadays there are all kinds of categories. fishing, cars, home improvement, gardening, career help, ask me anything (lawyers, therapists, etc)